Law & Order: LA alum Megan Boone will be partnering up with Blue Bloods‘ Danny for at least three episodes — stepping in for Jennifer Esposito– our sister site Deadline reports.

Boone — whose casting comes with the option to become a series regular, if need be — will succeed Megan Ketch (A Gifted Man), who is set appear in four episodes as the first of Danny’s rotating new partners.

The need to cast new partners for Danny came as the result of Esposito and the CBS drama parting ways, at least temporarily, under circumstances that are in dispute.

As reported earlier this week, CBS says the actress requested “a very limited part-time schedule” that the demands of the role could not accommodate, so they put her character, Det. Jackie Curatola, on a leave of absence. Esposito however says the network knows her request is the result of her battle with Celiac Disease and the advice of her doctor, and claims she is being kept from working elsewhere during her “unpaid leave.”

Esposito’s legal team, a source tells the New York Post, is “negotiating with CBS to see if she can be reinstated on the show” — without having to resort to a lawsuit. “They hope to reach a deal for a special accommodation to be made for her disease while working on an episodic TV show.”